Debt Settlement Firms Offer Promises but Little Help

With the economy on the ropes, hundreds of thousands of consumers are turning to “debt settlement” companies like Credit Solutions to escape a crushing pile of bills.

As many as 2,000 settlement companies operate in the United States, triple the number of a few years ago. Settlement ads offering financial salvation blanket radio and late-night television.

Consumers who turn to these companies sometimes get help from them, personal finance experts say, but that is not the typical experience. More often, they say, a settlement company collects a large fee, often 15 percent of the total debt, and accomplishes little or nothing on the consumer’s behalf.

按理说，私人间的交易政府不该插手，但是牵扯到大面积的欺骗，这是一种强盗行为，对人民来说是公共品，公共防卫，一个伟大的社会需要一个伟大的政府，这个政府可以插手，问题是长期以往，我怕政府会越来越大，成为世间唯一一个强调，人民是引狼入室，初衷是好的，但是会怪坏狼的。

The Carters went to the West Virginia attorney general’s office in January, joining a flood of that state’s citizens complaining about debt relief schemes. “We’re being overwhelmed,” an assistant attorney general, Norman Googel, said.